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New Zealand Ice Hockey League
New Zealand |champion=Botany Swarm |website=NZ Ice Hockey }} The NZIHL is New Zealand’s national league. It is an amateur league that was formed in 2005 to develop the sport in the New Zealand and to give the top players regular competition against each other and to allow them to improve the skill level of the game domestically as well become more competitive on the international scene. Because the NZIHL plays during the Northern Hemisphere countries' offseason, overseas players can travel to New Zealand and enjoy an off-season abroad while keeping them in ice hockey shape. The 5 teams in the NZIHL represent the 3 regions affiliated to the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation, with 2 teams coming from the Auckland and Southern regions and one from the Canterbury region. Teams *West Auckland Admirals *Botany Swarm *Canterbury Red Devils *Southern Stampede *Dunedin Thunder Rosters NZIHL team rosters must be made up of a minimum 18 players and 2 goalies. Every roster must have a least 2 players eligible for the NZ U18 team and at least 3 players eligible for the NZ U20 team. If a player is a U18 & U20 rep he can only be counted once. Hence each roster must have a minimum 5 junior players. Each team is allowed an unlimited number of overseas imports (not eligible for NZ) on their roster, however each team is only allowed to play up to 5 non NZ eligible players in a game at a time. Season structure In the 2007 NZIHL season each team plays 10 games over 6 rounds. The competition starts in May and teams compete in rounds every two weeks concluding with the final in September. The 2007 season started with preliminary rounds 1 & 2 consisting of each team playing against their local rivals twice per round on a Saturday and Sunday. The Swarm playing against the Admirals while the Red Devils squaring off against the Stampede. Each win in this round is worth 2 points, while a draw worth 1. The next 4 rounds will see each team’s home rink hosting a round. Each round consists of 3 teams playing 2 games each over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the 4th team having a bye. Each win in these rounds is worth 4 points and the draw is worth 2 points. In the end each team will play their local rivals 6 times and the other 2 teams twice. ;2007 Final After the regular season has been completed the top two teams in the standings will compete in the final, with the winner of the regular season having home ice advantage ;Changes from the previous season’s structure During the first two seasons of the NZIHL there was no preliminary round. Each team played 6 games, 2 games against each team. Each team hosted one round, with one team having a bye. The top two teams would then play 2-game finals series. If both teams won a game each, the winner would be decided on the which team had the superior goal difference in those 2 games, then which team scored the most goals, followed by regular season results between the 2 teams. Champions External links *Official website *NZ Ice Hockey Federation *Southern Stampede *Dunedin Thunder *Canterbury Red Devils Category:Ice hockey leagues Category:Ice hockey in New Zealand Category:Established in 2005 Category:New Zealand Ice Hockey League